14 DAY TRIAL // Here's one rumor we should have definitely covered earlier. Macenstien is reporting that "Apple's hobby," the company's set-top-box also known as the Apple TV, is getting new features and a multitouch Apple keyboard. With all these multitouch and gaming rumors flying around, what "shouldn't" we expect from Apple exactly?
Reader Doug told the Macenstein website that the upcoming peripheral (pictured left) for use with the Apple TV is a "new keyboard" sporting the following features: "bluetooth. aluminum with design and keys just like existing wireless. but to the right a touch-sensitive area. it is aluminum and backlit. a thin groove defines the edge of its area. it is programmable. it can illuminate a numerical pad. a click wheel. a standard trackpad. a keyboard. whatever. create your own," the reader reveals.
Softpedia take: The keyboard could very well be released for Macs, along with a firmware update and a bunch of programs to give folks a start on how to use gesture-based software on a bigger scale. After all, if one guy could bring full-screen multitouch to Mac OS X, what's to stop Apple from offering this keyboard as a first step in that direction?
Just to clear the negative factor here, namely that of "shooting the messenger," Macstein's mole is said to have been quite accurate with his tips, which means there's no reason to dismiss the new Apple TV peripheral as a possibility, more so given that it makes perfect sense, as you'll see in the lines below:
"an apple tv software update will include full .mac compatibility. check and write email, surf, organize photos, create and order a photo book or upload them to a .mac gallery, and ichat, even video ichat," Doug claims, citing "intrepid investigators have noticed the apple tv has a unused bluetooth capability." Also, according to same rumor, users will be able to "plug in a USB webcam, or even a digital camcorder or just a digital still cam as long as it has video capture and USB," the man says.
Still think you made a mistake grabbing an Apple TV when it was released?
A new Apple TV is also rumored for release, which, again, makes perfect sense, should the above-mentioned features be implemented: "apple tv gets a standard hardware upgrade," the source notes, featuring a "slighter better processor and video card," while storage can go up to as much as 340GB.
Think Apple's really doing all this? Express your thoughts below.